Air Ink : A Brilliant Product Created By an Indian Engineer

Introduction

Pollution is worst. In some cities, the exhaust from cars and buses can get so bad that it leaves a dark shadow on buildings, cars, and even clothing. Pollution is one of the biggest culprits behind the humongous amount of death every year. More than 5.5 million people worldwide are dying prematurely every year as a result of air pollution, according to new research. Air pollution alone kills more than 10 lakhs Indian every year.(Shocking isn’t it?)

Air Ink: A Pollution Saver

How to deal with this pollution? Well, there is a product which can convert black soot into useful Ink. Yes! We are talking about Air Ink. This product is invented by Anirudh Sharma, a computer engineer and a member of MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces Group who was visiting his family in Mumbai when he got the idea of this ink.

How does it work?

Step 1. The first step is to capture this black dangerous soot. The cylindrical metal device called Kaalink, which is designed to fit over the exhaust pipe of cars, trucks, and generators and captures 95 per cent of particulate matter before it can pollute the air. It takes just 45 minutes worth of vehicular emissions captured by Kaalink to produce 1 fluid ounce of ink.

Step 2. The soot is dangerous because of its aerosol nature, therefore, there is a need to filter it. Once the Kaalink collects the soot, engineers filter out any glass or heavy metals within it to leave just the black particles behind. The end product is a purified carbon-rich pigment.

Step 3. The carbon is then used to make different types of inks and paints.

This product has collected 1.6 billion micrograms of particulate matter, which equates to cleaning 1.6 trillion litres of air. This product is available through Kickstarter. You can check it out there. With little support, this product can really make a big difference out there.